Ravi Shastri tells BCCI to 'take a stand' in stern message ahead of IPL 2023: 'For India's sake...'

Following the ODI series defeat against Australia, the Indian players will return to action in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League. The side faced a close 21-run defeat in the series decider on Wednesday, and following the match, Indian captain Rohit Sharma stressed on the need for Team India stars to have adequate rest ahead of marquee international games. Following a two-month long IPL, Team India will take on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship, that takes place between June 7-11 at The Oval.

Now, former India head coach Ravi Shastri has also spoken about the need for workload management, insisting that the amount of cricketing action has increased over the past few years, and that both – the players and the boards – need to be transparent in their communications over workload. Over the past few months, injuries have plagued the Indian team; Jasprit Bumrah hasn't played for the side since September last year, while Shreyas Iyer was also ruled out of the ODI series with a recurring back injury.

Also read: Rohit Sharma's unapologetic five-word statement on 'workload management' during IPL 2023: 'Franchises own them...'

“I find it hard to imagine (increase in injuries). You look at era we played in, the facilities that were available at that time. You found players playing 8-10 years easily. Lot of them would play 8-10 months of the year. I really don't know.. probably the volume of cricket has increased, no questions about that. There are different leagues around the world. The rest period is decreasing,” Shastri told Sports Yaari on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket in Doha.

“The establishment and players will have to sit across the table. You need that much cricket and you need to give certain break. Even if it happens to be IPL. Board has to take the stand there, tell the franchises, 'listen, we need them. India need them. For India's sake, if he doesn't play those games, it will be good',” Shastri further said.

The 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League begins on March 31. In addition to the WTC Final, this year also remains crucial for the side due to the home ODI World Cup, scheduled to take place in October-November.